He Has Risen (Mark 16:1-8)

There is a classic movie many of you are familiar with called Princess Bride. In the movie, the hero Wesley is killed by the villain. Discovered by his friends, Wesley is taken to the miracle worker name miracle Max. As he examines Wesley, he informs the friends that Wesley is not actually all dead, he is just mostly dead. He revives Wesley and Wesley goes on to defeat the villain and save the princess his one true love. 

The humor of the scene is found in that idea of not being all dead, just being mostly dead. Because death is an all or nothing event. Some claim that on the cross, Jesus did not die. Rather, he was mostly dead. But this misses the reality and glory of redemption. Jesus was all dead. But the good news is that Jesus didn’t stay dead. Today we reach the climax to Mark’s gospel: the resurrection. Without the resurrection, the death of Jesus is nothing but an overwhelmingly tragic event. The good news about Jesus Christ is that God, by the resurrection of Jesus, defeated sin, death, and hell. Our hope in life and death is Christ alone. Because of his resurrection, we need not fear death, and we can live a complete life. 

Mark records the resurrection events through the eyes of the women we introduced us to in the crucifixion account. On Friday, April 3, AD 33 Jesus was murdered on the cross. Hastily he was laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea before the Sabbath which began at sundown. After the Sabbath, on Sunday April 5, AD 33, three women witnessed the climax of all human history, the resurrection of Christ.  ...